Post by Chris on Apr 16, 2010 13:38:08 GMT -5
I was wondering if those of you that have successfully flashed your UMC-1 with V6 could do some very specific testing this weekend. The problem that many of us have is not everyone has the same equipment, cable system, and other components so that someone might not encounter certain problems.
The bug I am most interested in confirming is what appears to be a loss of all or some of the audio when the UMC-1 is asked to switch rapidly between DD 3/2+LFE to DD /2/0 and then back to DD 3/2+LFE. I have done some really careful testing and recorded the steps in an email I sent to Lonnie. In order for this test to be valid, I suspect you need to have a cable system that is perhaps HD capable and that you have set your cable STB to passthrough mode so that you are sending whatever type of audio signal the source is transmitting. Sometimes your STB will be set to send PCM by default and you will thus not be seeing this problem. You actually have to go into the STB setup menu (not your cable setup menu) to make these changes. This is the same place where you make changes to HDMI and resolution such as 1080i or 720p. If this not understandable, I apologize, but I can only talk from experience with my Fios Motorola 6200 STB.
The testing scenario would involve picking a channel, preferably a Hi-Def station. I am not sure what type of audio standard definition channels pass.
In my case, I chose Bravo HD. What I have observed is that the channel is usually passing DD 3/2+LFE audio (use info button to check). When a commercial break comes, the network commercials will usually play first and stay in DD 3/2+LFE. At some point, Verizon Fios will insert their own commercials often of local ad content and they switch to DD 2/0. You may note that the volume is louder and only two channel at this point which is normal I think. After this there may be some more network provided ads or you are returned to the network show and the audio is switched back to DD 3/2+LFE. It is at this exact point where the UMC-1 gives up the ghost and drops all sound to the front channels if you happen to use the PL II as your default for DD 2/0 for this input. I can replicate and repeat this scenario with great regularity. It also does not seem to matter what your DD 2/0 mode is defaulting to. I have changed mine from the default PL II to Stereo and I still exhibit the loss of sound.
Cycling through the modes (mode button on remote) will restore the sound consistently.
I don't know if this is a Verizon Fios specific problem? I don't think so since others are reporting very similar things with different systems.
Also, I do believe I have successfully flashed by UMC-1 to V6 based on the tools that Emotiva has supplied. Doing a bit of a logic exercise it would seem to me that if all the problems such as this one that people have reported were solely the result of corrupted firmware there would be wildly random and different results. It seems illogical to me (sounding a bit like Mr. Spock here!) that random corrupted firmware loads would result in the exact same problems we seem to be reporting. I would expect corrupted firmware would evidence itself in wildly different symptoms for each UMC-1. There's too much consistency in the reports for this to be a random event?
My UMC-1 is working very well on many fronts. It switches between inputs reliably. The sound quality appears to good to excellent. I have also been very impressed with the Video quality. Even the FM radio sounds quite good. I haven't seen too many people talking about the Tuner quality!
I think the more specific and detailed we can be to providing feedback to Emotiva, the quicker they may be able to squash the last remaining bugs.
Thanks in advance for your testing.
-CB
The bug I am most interested in confirming is what appears to be a loss of all or some of the audio when the UMC-1 is asked to switch rapidly between DD 3/2+LFE to DD /2/0 and then back to DD 3/2+LFE. I have done some really careful testing and recorded the steps in an email I sent to Lonnie. In order for this test to be valid, I suspect you need to have a cable system that is perhaps HD capable and that you have set your cable STB to passthrough mode so that you are sending whatever type of audio signal the source is transmitting. Sometimes your STB will be set to send PCM by default and you will thus not be seeing this problem. You actually have to go into the STB setup menu (not your cable setup menu) to make these changes. This is the same place where you make changes to HDMI and resolution such as 1080i or 720p. If this not understandable, I apologize, but I can only talk from experience with my Fios Motorola 6200 STB.
The testing scenario would involve picking a channel, preferably a Hi-Def station. I am not sure what type of audio standard definition channels pass.
In my case, I chose Bravo HD. What I have observed is that the channel is usually passing DD 3/2+LFE audio (use info button to check). When a commercial break comes, the network commercials will usually play first and stay in DD 3/2+LFE. At some point, Verizon Fios will insert their own commercials often of local ad content and they switch to DD 2/0. You may note that the volume is louder and only two channel at this point which is normal I think. After this there may be some more network provided ads or you are returned to the network show and the audio is switched back to DD 3/2+LFE. It is at this exact point where the UMC-1 gives up the ghost and drops all sound to the front channels if you happen to use the PL II as your default for DD 2/0 for this input. I can replicate and repeat this scenario with great regularity. It also does not seem to matter what your DD 2/0 mode is defaulting to. I have changed mine from the default PL II to Stereo and I still exhibit the loss of sound.
Cycling through the modes (mode button on remote) will restore the sound consistently.
I don't know if this is a Verizon Fios specific problem? I don't think so since others are reporting very similar things with different systems.
Also, I do believe I have successfully flashed by UMC-1 to V6 based on the tools that Emotiva has supplied. Doing a bit of a logic exercise it would seem to me that if all the problems such as this one that people have reported were solely the result of corrupted firmware there would be wildly random and different results. It seems illogical to me (sounding a bit like Mr. Spock here!) that random corrupted firmware loads would result in the exact same problems we seem to be reporting. I would expect corrupted firmware would evidence itself in wildly different symptoms for each UMC-1. There's too much consistency in the reports for this to be a random event?
My UMC-1 is working very well on many fronts. It switches between inputs reliably. The sound quality appears to good to excellent. I have also been very impressed with the Video quality. Even the FM radio sounds quite good. I haven't seen too many people talking about the Tuner quality!
I think the more specific and detailed we can be to providing feedback to Emotiva, the quicker they may be able to squash the last remaining bugs.
Thanks in advance for your testing.
-CB
